PRA board member and DAR Tommy Milton honored

ILLINOIS AVIATION HALL OF FAME The 2017 Illinois Aviation Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. May 25 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign. Candidates are inducted into the Illinois Aviation Hall of Fame based on their service to the aviation community in Illinois on a long-term basis. This year’s inductees include Marshall F. Knox, Cynthia Madsen, Thomas Milton, Lloyd Thomas and Steve and Tina Thomas. Two Illinois organizations are being awarded the Spirit of Flight Award for their service: AeroStar Consulting Corporation in Chicago and Challenger Learning Center in Normal. Congratulations to our awardees and inductees.

Thomas Milton Tom Milton did more than just bring aviation into the classroom. He got kids excited about aviation by setting up a full-time high school aviation classroom in a hangar in Chicago. A pilot, aviation mechanic and educator, he taught aircraft mechanics at the Chicago Vocational High School. He spent a great deal of his own time upgrading the World War II era hangar into a modern classroom, taking students to fly-ins and arranging introductory flights. Milton was active in the Homewood Flossmoor Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, teaching Cadet’s Pilot Ground School and becoming Deputy Commander of Cadets. Milton is known locally and nationally for his dedication to gyroplane safety and education through his work as a Technical Inspector for the EAA and his affiliation with the Popular Rotorcraft Association, where he has served as both an officer and director of his local chapter and at the national level.